1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to transportation methods and systems, and more specifically to methods and systems for transporting wind turbine blades by rail.
2. Description of Related Art
Large wind turbines, such as wind turbine 100 depicted in FIG. 1, must be disassembled into component parts for transportation on railcars, ships, trucks, and other vehicles. Wind turbine 100 includes a tower 102, a nacelle 104, and a plurality of rotor blades 106. Unlike tower 102, blades 106 are not disassembled into smaller components for transportation. Typically, blades 106 are relatively large, sometimes exceeding 160 feet in length and 12 feet in width.
A known method for transporting blades 106 by rail is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. FIG. 2A is a side view of a rail system 200 for carrying four blades 106. FIG. 2B is an enlarged side view of one of the sections of rail system 200. Rail system 200 consists of two sections: a first section 202 composed of railcars 214, 216, and 218; and a second section 204, composed of railcars 218, 220, and 222. Two support structures 206 and 208 are rigidly coupled to railcar 216. Likewise, two support structures 210 and 212 are rigidly coupled to railcar 220. Support structures 206 and 208 do not move relative to railcar 216, and support structures 210 and 212 do not move relative to railcar 216. Because of the extreme length of blades 106 and the design of rail system 200, five railcars (railcars 214, 216, 218, 220, and 222) must be used, three of which (railcars 214, 218 and 222), do not even carry any of the loads from blades 106. As a result, rail system 200 has many disadvantages, including: (1) the rail system requires relatively long railcars; (2) some of the railcars used do not even carry any loads; and (3) wasted space is created between loaded railcars.
Thus, although significant strides have been made in the area of transporting wind turbine blades, many shortcomings remain.